Summary:
This article took a look at the US’s poor achievement in comparison to other countries around the globe. They place much of the blame for this problem on students motivation; not just those students who are under motivated, but also those who are over motivated and place too much pressure on themselves. The article describes this kind of undue press that students self inflict as ‘debilitating anxiety.’ That is too say that while being under motivated is a problem, placing too much importance on your performance on a test can be just as bad. Students need to strike the right balance. The article also credits over-testing as a problem, noting that when students are made to take so many tests, especially standardized tests that hold no real bearing on their ‘grade,’ They take them less seriously. The authors of the article conducted a study to ascertain to what extent student motivation effects their performance on a math exam. The study involved 3 K-8 Chicago public schools. The 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8th grade classes in each school were split into two groups. One group was read only specific instructions contained in the standardized test, while the other group was read a short speech highlighting how important was for each student to do their best, ending with, “Do it for YOURSELF, YOUR PARENTS, and ME.” The study found that students who were given the motivational speech did ‘substantially’ better.
Reflection:
While this study found strong evidence that a student’s motivation and desire to do well on a test certainly effect their overall performance on the test, nothing has been done to resolve the issue. While it would seem that we could just give this speech before every test, the problem of over testing needs to be considered. If students hear the same speech or even a different motivational speech before each test, they will eventually become desensitized to it, and we will be back where we started. If the results of standardized test actually held a bearing on students grades, they might actually try without us having to lie to them about it. Execution of this idea could be tricky but a bonus in math for high SAT Quant or a bonus in English SAT Qual could be enough for a struggling student to see SATs as not only an opportunity to boost their future college opportunities but also as a chance to bring their English grade up. This might not be effective as kids who get the bonus for doing well on the SATs are likely the ones who don’t need the bonus. Another option is to fix the problem of over testing. With SATs, ACTs, NECAPS, and more, it is very understandable that students would not give a standardized test their all. If there were a battery created which could test the information each of these tests believes is most important, students could take one test to provide the needed information for all of these test administrators. Clearly this idea needs work as well but the point remains, student motivation is certainly something, that when properly addressed, can lead to better student performance.
This article took a look at the US’s poor achievement in comparison to other countries around the globe. They place much of the blame for this problem on students motivation; not just those students who are under motivated, but also those who are over motivated and place too much pressure on themselves. The article describes this kind of undue press that students self inflict as ‘debilitating anxiety.’ That is too say that while being under motivated is a problem, placing too much importance on your performance on a test can be just as bad. Students need to strike the right balance. The article also credits over-testing as a problem, noting that when students are made to take so many tests, especially standardized tests that hold no real bearing on their ‘grade,’ They take them less seriously. The authors of the article conducted a study to ascertain to what extent student motivation effects their performance on a math exam. The study involved 3 K-8 Chicago public schools. The 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8th grade classes in each school were split into two groups. One group was read only specific instructions contained in the standardized test, while the other group was read a short speech highlighting how important was for each student to do their best, ending with, “Do it for YOURSELF, YOUR PARENTS, and ME.” The study found that students who were given the motivational speech did ‘substantially’ better.
Reflection:
While this study found strong evidence that a student’s motivation and desire to do well on a test certainly effect their overall performance on the test, nothing has been done to resolve the issue. While it would seem that we could just give this speech before every test, the problem of over testing needs to be considered. If students hear the same speech or even a different motivational speech before each test, they will eventually become desensitized to it, and we will be back where we started. If the results of standardized test actually held a bearing on students grades, they might actually try without us having to lie to them about it. Execution of this idea could be tricky but a bonus in math for high SAT Quant or a bonus in English SAT Qual could be enough for a struggling student to see SATs as not only an opportunity to boost their future college opportunities but also as a chance to bring their English grade up. This might not be effective as kids who get the bonus for doing well on the SATs are likely the ones who don’t need the bonus. Another option is to fix the problem of over testing. With SATs, ACTs, NECAPS, and more, it is very understandable that students would not give a standardized test their all. If there were a battery created which could test the information each of these tests believes is most important, students could take one test to provide the needed information for all of these test administrators. Clearly this idea needs work as well but the point remains, student motivation is certainly something, that when properly addressed, can lead to better student performance.